Letter from the Editor
Maj. Gen. John S. Kem, U.S. Army
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Maj. Gen. John S. Kem, U.S. Army
Provost, Army University
Deputy Commandant,
Command and General Staff College
Welcome to the inaugural edition of the Journal of Military Learning (JML).
I have had the distinct honor of serving as the provost of Army University for the past twenty months. As the leader of the Army’s education enterprise, I take great care and interest in our collective efforts to create a university structure for the Army that maximizes educational opportunities for soldiers and civilian employees. This is no small task.
Army University supports the career-long training and education of over a million soldiers of all ranks in hundreds of occupational specialties and career paths, and more than two hundred thousand civilians in Department of the Army occupational specialties and career paths. There is no single solution or learning model that best meets the needs of all our people. Therefore, my staff and I have extensively researched adult learning by meeting with our partner leaders in training and education from across the defense community, academia, industry, and government and by comprehensively studying current literature on the topic.
The ideas and insights we collected are guiding the development and improvement of the Army’s education enterprise. We have adapted many of the best practices, systems, and processes for Army use, and we are in the process of adapting others. We are also working closely with our partners to innovate in the areas of adult learning, credentialing and certification, and competency-based education and training. Our partnerships and the extensive research and writing by the learning community have proven invaluable toward accomplishing our mandate.
We realized as we integrated into this broader community that the Army, and the military in general, did not have a military-sponsored forum for professionals to discuss the theory and practice of adult learning. Nor did we have a platform for discussing the nuances and challenges of training and education that are unique to the military. The JML fills this gap. Through the JML, Army University offers a peer-reviewed publication focused on adult learning to disseminate knowledge that informs practice in both civilian and military professional education and training.
This inaugural edition of the JML represents the realization of a long-term goal of Army University and professional educators across the military. We could not have succeeded without the quality submissions of our authors and the diligence of our peer reviewers, associate editors, editorial board, and managing editor. I hope you find the content thoughtful and useful as we continue to improve education and training for the U.S. Army, the overall Profession of Arms, and the Nation.
Going forward, I invite all practitioners, researchers, academics, and military professionals to submit manuscripts that address the issues and challenges of adult education and training. A detailed call for papers and the submission guidelines can be found at http://www.armyupress.army.mil/Journals/Journal-of-Military-Learning.